Courtesy: ICC
Steve Smith, the former captain of Australia, is likely to miss the first Test of the three-match series against West Indies, which will begin on June 25 at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown. The reason for potentially missing out on being a part of the Australian cricket team in the contest is the finger injury the 36-year-old sustained during the World Test Championship (WTC) final 2025 against South Africa at the Lord’s in London, which they lost by five wickets.
On day three of the WTC final 2025, when Australia were defending 281-run total, Mitchell Starc induced an outside edge of the bat of Temba Bavuma, which Steve Smith, fielding at first slip close-in with an helmet on, wasn’t able to catch despite having multiple goes at it. During this entire sequence, the ball had struck the little finger on his right hand, which led to a compound dislocation, following which he walked off the field in extreme pain while clutching his shoulder as well.
I'd say first Test maybe unlikely and then kind of go from there: Pat Cummins on Steve Smith
After the loss in the WTC final 2025, Pat Cummins, the captain of Australia, addressed the finger injury sustained by Steve Smith apart from giving an update on his current fitness ahead of their upcoming tour to West Indies later this month. He was quoted as saying, as per BBC Sport, “I think it's somewhere around 10 days to two weeks, and then maybe you try and bat with a splint and see how that looks.”
“So I think it's a bit of a wait and see. I'd say first Test maybe unlikely and then kind of go from there, but it's a bit early just to tell,” he added. Moreover, on day four of the WTC 2025 final, which saw South Africa get the better of defending champions Australia at Lord’s in London, Steve Smith was spotted on the away balcony before awkwardly shaking hands with everyone on the field with his left hand in the post-match presentation.
In his illustrious career, Steve Smith has played 117 Test matches, scoring 10,350 runs at an average of 56.55 in 208 innings, to get widely regarded as one of the best Test batters of his generation.
